KOKIA: The Voice (2008)

Today I feel it in my fingers to type this review on the latest album by Kokia: The Voice.

A big thank you to Zhu for introducing me to this amazing artist.
Her voice is so versatile and soul rendering and very capable at traversing various different genres. One moment full bodied and strong like that of a survivor, the next moment sweet, and innocent like that of a child.

The songs in this album are as vesatile as she is.

A couple of wonderful ballads in the compilation like Everlasting and Gomen ne, and some unorthodox pieces such as Follow the Nightingale and Song of Pocchong where I believe she came up with her own words for lyrics. Word on the web has been that if you manage to catch these words and write them backwards they are actual japanese words in Romanji. However, there has yet to be substantial evidence for that.

The lyrics to her songs are as hauntingly striking, particularly those of Everlasting which never fails to put me in a pensive mood. Everlasting is to me a stellar demonstration of her operatic prowess. The first time I heard it I thought it was actually Sarah Brightman. The timbre, the high notes even the song structure are similar to that of Brightman's. Though I must say that I think Kokia's voice is less jarring on the nerves and more fullsome and heart rendering.

Every moment I can feel you.
Wish You feel the same way.
If I show my secret garden you can touch to eternity.
It fill me in with scent rose.
everlasting memory.
Glow my life, you give me a heart to love.
What I feel please stay forever.

Someday I know it may fade away
Still we ask for forever.
find our sign in this music.
everlastig memory.
only my love, truly given eternal life.
what I hold, keep breathing forever.

Love, where to come.
Love, ever lasting.
The world is Saturated with light of love.

Glow my life, you give me a heart to love.
What I feel please stay forever.
only my love, truly given eternal life.
what I hold, keep breathing forever.

Someday I know it may fade away
Still we ask for forever.

~Everlasting - Kokia: The Voice ~

Nani mo kamo hoshi ni natte is like a balladic J-poppish song with it's lyrics belting out angst and hope through her melancholic velvety tones. Hope it does make it to the top of the charts. Perhaps if the winds of change blow and render those mindless J-pop screamers mute. I am just kidding of course. I too have my favourite J-poppers too. The following is an english translation of the lyrics of the songs. From what I understand of nihon go it appears to looks quite accurate.

Hatred, conflict, suffering, even if we hurt each other

If we look at the same sky after we were born again,

It will probably be only a blink of a bright moment

Where, instead of people being sacrified, justice that goes on with happiness

Alone, a life on a single person, if that life belonged to the one you love

Please imagine, as though it's your own pain

Everything turns into a star and passed on to the future

Everyone is someone's one day only

Justified events, that adults had sought reasons and let them pass

Though i was there, looking, the moment i turned a blind eye, i went down

Please imagine, as though it's your own pain

To regret every time you lose something, and shed tears for my short comings

The tears shed, as many as the number of stars, trying not waste them

Only an emptiness cuts the sky, and tears my heart

When everything turns into a star, would it all be forgotten?

Please look at the person beside you

Coincidence that you cannot simply call them a stranger

It's too far into the time to smile back anymore

I don't need love that seeks something in return

Please imagine, as though it's your own pain

Everything turns into a star and passed on to the future

Everyone is someone's one and only

~Nanimo kamo ga hoshi ni natte - Kokia: The Voice ~

Odayaka na shizukesa is a truly interesting piece. Utilising intersting interplay between voice, instrumentation and synchronization. Kokia's masterful utilisation of her elements makes her appear to mimic Tori Amos with her piano playing and powerful voice. The calmess of the quiet is truely appreciated through her use of velvety tones on the saxaphone, and the plaintiveness enhanced with the gradual build up of instrumentation with the final die cast with the use of a string orchestra and other worldly vocalization and all this gradually decreases in numbers and the thickness of the music thins out towards the end to a plaintive long held note and a quiet plea for quietness. A true musical experience.

The first song of the album, Gomen ne seals the deal from the start. Each time she hits the chorus it makes you want to tell her that she's forgiven for whatever she is apologizing for. Every time you hear the words Gomen ne you can feel the sting of regret and pain. It's a feeling one and all can bear witness to whenever there's something or someone for which ( or whom ) we feel regret for and the pangs that come along with it.

It's strange that Kokia would choose to open her album with an apology. An act of humility or is there a deeper meaning to this album. For what it's worth, there is no need for apology or humility for this album. Just listening to this work of art is explanation enough.

(Edit: download link here. =p)

Zbigniew Preisner - Trois Couleurs: Bleu soundtrack

Decidedly one of my favourite composers for film scores and beyond, Zbigniew Preisner makes music that's majestic, poignant, often profoundly melancholic and breathtakingly beautiful.

Quoting wikipedia:
Preisner studied history and philosophy in Kraków. Never having received formal music lessons, he taught himself about music by listening and transcribing parts from records.

He is best known for his work on Kieślowski’s movies, most famously, Trois Couleurs: Bleu, Blanc, Rouge; and after working with fellow Pole Agnieszka Holland on Kieślowski’s Three Colors: Blue, Preisner was hired by producer Francis Ford Coppola to write the score for The Secret Garden, directed by Holland.

Although Preisner is most closely associated with Kieślowski, he has written for other directors, winning a César in 1996 for his work on Jean Becker’s Elisa. He has won a number of other awards, including another César in 1994 for Three Colors: Red, and the Silver Bear from the 1997 Berlin Film Festival 1997 for The Island on Bird Street.

In 1998, Requiem for My Friend, Preisner’s first large scale work not written for film, premiered. It was originally intended as a narrative work to be written by Krzysztof Piesiewicz and directed by Kieślowski, but after Kieślowski’s death, it instead became a sort of memorial to him.

Here I'd like to share the soundtrack to Trois Couleurs: Bleu with you. If you have watched the film you'd likely remember the haunting symphony that played throughout the course of the narrative, that the bereft wife and secret composer Binoche plays hears in utmost intensity in her grief and anger; music that was like the sapphire blue glass windchimes she takes with her, containing and refracting such a vortex of emotions, but always in shades of deep, almost violent, blue.

You may download the soundtrack here. (But as usual, I strongly urge you to buy a copy if you like it like I do. Do enjoy.)

soundamus - last.fm new releases feed

An awesome site for last.fm users: soundamus.net notifies you of the latest release of artists you listen to (and get scrobbled) by generating a self-updating rss feed tailored just for you. All you need to do is enter your username.

Don't use last.fm yet? You really should think about it, or find out more. Alternative, try music-alert. Happy tracking!

Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

Elbow is an indie rock/dream pop band from Manchester,UK. They're one of the most under-rated out there (so can be said of a million other bands) but their time will surely come! (not so much for the other million bands,sorry)! They released a new album in March this year titled 'The Seldom Seen Kid'(Download here, link expires May 3). The title is a tribute to their friend Bryan who just passed away, and also a line from their hit single 'Grounds for Divorce' (quote: Monday is for drinking to the seldom seen kid)

Links:
Official site | Wikipedia | Myspace

Elbow is my new find and I'm yet to (1) Dig out why they call themselves 'elbow', namely a rather fragile body joint (2) Listen to their previous albums to see the progression of musical style (3) Attend their concert on May 6th, held in a church in downtown Vancouver =D Envy me not!

As Jady asked me why they'd hold a concert in CHURCH (are they a religious band?), I browsed through online resources and came to the conclusion they simply love venturous places and even plan to try out a forest (They need solar energy to power up their electronic set XD)



I've listened to the seldom seen kid back to back a couple of times and dare I say I love every single track on the album! It's 100% gem! 'Grounds for Divorce' (released in single) is coarse, dark and ground-shaking, something that would fit frontman Guy Garvey's 'grizzly' image. It's a very catchy tune with old-flavoured, minimalistic guitars. However this's the only heavy rock song you'd find on the album and wiki says 'it's the most rock composition ever attempted by Elbow'. Successful as it is, grounds for divorce isn't exactly representative. The lyrics are excellently written with personal reference to the neighborhood Garvey grew up in. Matter of fact, one of the greatest attractions about Elbow is Guy Garvey's beautifully crafted lyrics, which can be read through as a complete poem with the finest rhymes and metaphors. Here's a discussion link to the lyrics of Grounds for Divorce, an interesting read.

Grounds for Divorce


Tune to 'One day like this' and 'Weather to fly' on sunny days and you'll experience how the melodious orchestra loosen up your bones and toss you high up the clouds.'The bones of you'and 'Some Riot'are much darker and introspective. 'The fix' is a nice attempt at folk composition (reminds me of Broadway musicals) and features guest performance from Richard Hawley. They have proved how talented and versatile they're when it comes to song writing. One of the best I've came across among indie rock bands.

One Day Like This


The Bones of You (Live at Glasgow)


The Bones of You
So I'm here. Charging around with a juggernaut brow. Overdraft speeches and deadlines to make. Cramming commitments like cats in a sack. Telephone burn and a purposeful gait. When out of a doorway the tentacles stretch of a song that I know and the world moves in slow-mo. Straight to my head like the first cigarette of the day. And it's you. And it's May. And we're sleeping through the day. And I'm five years ago and three thousand miles away. Do I have time? A man of my caliber?

Stood in the street like a sleepwalking teenager? No. And I dealt with this years ago. I took a hammer to every memento but image on image like beads on a rosary pull through my head as the music takes hold. And the sickener hits. I can work 'til I break but I love the bones of you. That I will never escape. And it's you. And it's May. And we're sleeping through the day. And I'm five years ago and three thousand miles away. And I can't move my arm for fear that you will wake. And I'm five years ago and three thousand miles away.

4 new Love Psychedelico live clips

Just found these...=)


Your Song (Budokan '07! One of the commentors to the tubie says the DVD will be released in June, fingers crossed..)


Freedom


Right Now


Everybody needs somebody. In my opinion this song is one of the best to be played live, arrangement or vocal part-wise...almost better than the studio version!

And another old clip of "Everybody needs somebody" from Budokan first time round..good old times =p

Cao Fang - Live in Spring EP

Frankly I'm not a fan myself, but since we seem to get quite some responses to the previous posts, here's another one for all the Cao Fang (曹方) fans out there--a new EP called 住在春天, or Live in Spring, and you may download it here.

@Shrota: if you visit here again, please leave your email so that you can get notified when the previous album is uploaded.

Kings Of Convenience - I'D Rather Dance With You

Song of the Day! Get up and shake your booty~~ ;)

I'll leave it to zhu to do a KOC rave/post, just thought I'd post this cute (and gayest I've seen in a while xD) video here first, and also the soon-to-expire link to download the full size MV for any of you who collect...Enjoy~

Matt Watts - the ever seeing bird

Seems like this budding indie artist is totally new on the scene, another young guy with an acoustic guitar and a breezy voice to confide and enchant, and not much other info the net--besides this blurb on last.fm, written apparently by the artist himself:

im from the west coast of the states, but i’ve been living in belgium for the past year. thank you very much for listening- i try to update this page as often as i can. you can also check out my myspace page if you’d like. (which contains new material not collected in the album, pretty nice too - jady's note.)

The debut album, the ever seeing bird, has all the wide-eyed youthful charms and soft, flowing simplicity of a new indie folk artist, but he stands out a bit more from the other indie folksy albums I've been listening to; I don't know if it's a good mellow-and-melancholic mix or the unhurriedness sweetness, but it definitely makes good company for some quiet nighttime reading. You can listen to one of my favourite tracks in the pink radio above, or download it here.

Contact and Request

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Request an upload/re-upload/anything
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New Template!

Hi long estranged readers, this is your rusty techie speaking, in quite a while. Basically I'm announcing another site appearance makeover (Which means we are probably going to return to regular updates. Again.) shedding the cuter, more feminine (read: pink) but narrower template--with original art from Contributor Zhu, see below!--

..with this much more subdued background and wider layout adapted from a wordpress theme.

How do you like it?

Also updated in this edition: to trim the sidebar length a little (it was sprawling), charts of fancy, flipping album arts are taken down (awwwww). But you can always visit our last.fm pages to find out about our favourite artists, or better, get your own going!